The Descent
by Tricera35
Summary: A year after losing his family in a car accident, Shiro and his five friends decided to go spelunking in a cave system. Soon after entering the cave, they experience a cave-in and have to find a way out. After going deeper into the cave, they experience a terror they have never seen before. (AU, Slight Shurtis also I really like Hunk and Pidge together, So they're a couple lol)
1. River of Death

Sounds of rushing water and cheers of excitement filled the ears of three young men as they were rafting down a white-water river. They were coming up on a series of mini waterfalls. "Here we go, guys!" one of the guys yelled out to the others to alert them.

Down the river, we see another young man with a little girl looking towards the rafters when the man pointed them out to the little girl. "There they are." He told her and she responded by waving her arms up and down yelling "Daddy!" hoping to get her father's attention.

The rafters were coming up to the falls and yelled in excitement as they went down them. The force of the drop and the speed of the river rocked them all over but they never fell out of the raft. They gripped the ropes on the rafts the prevent falling overboard and used their paddles to keep the raft facing forward. It was difficult, but they managed to make it to the inlet where the man and little girl were. They were greeted by the little girl yelling "Daddy!" which was answered by a 27-year-old man named Shiro saying "Hey, Sarah! Hey baby!" to both of them.

The rafters were paddling their raft towards a tree branch to tie it down to unload their gear. One of the rafters, A 25-year-old named Keith, was so excited that he stood up in the raft and asked "How was that?" to everyone. The last rafter, a 24-year-old named Curtis, answered by knocking him overboard with a paddle in the freezing river. Everyone laughed at this while Keith surfaced and started swimming towards the shore. Sarah was giggling at what happened when she saw her father hoping to the shore.

"Hey, baby! Come here." He motioned to her to give him a hug which she gladly obliged. While his husband was hugging their daughter, Adam went down towards Keith to give him a hand up. "Here, grab hold." He told him while holding the oar that Keith used. Keith grabbed it and was helped up to the shore by Adam. "It's freezing. I can't feel my fingers." Keith told him while shivering. Curtis was tying up the raft when he saw Shiro hugging his daughter. He smiled at them then turned to see Adam helping Keith get his helmet off, noticing that they were looking at each other kind of weird, but shrugged it off.

Adam turned away from Keith and started walking towards his car that was parked nearby. "Come on, Sarah. Let's get back to the car. It's freezing out here." He told his daughter, who let go of her other dad and walked towards the car. Shiro smiled before saying "I'm gonna stay and help the others." Curtis heard him "It's ok. Go on, we'll finish up here." He told him. Shiro looked at him and asked, "you sure?" Curtis nodded and Shiro smiled. "Thanks, guys. I'll meet you guys back at the hotel, then?" He asked them and they both nodded. Shiro climbed the hill, made his way to the car with his family and they drove towards the hotel.

The drive down was silent as Sarah was playing her doll, Shiro was writing down the adventure he just took with his friends and Adam was driving. After finishing writing the entry down, Shiro turned around to look at his daughter. "Hey, Sarah. When we get back home, how about I call Rachels mom and see if Rachel wants to come over for dinner?" He asked her. She smiled before saying "Yeah." Shiro smiled at her before turning back around. He reached his hand out to hold his husbands, who flinched a little at the contact before settling down. Shiro was concerned by this. "Hey, you ok? You've been acting strange for a while." He asked him concerned. Adam turned to look at him before replying. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry." He told him, not noticing the car was turning into the opposite lane and right into a van carrying steel poles on top. Before they could anything, they drove straight into the van. The force of the collision caused some the poles to shoot straight through the family's windshield, impaling Adam through the head and one through Sarah's chest. Shiro was smacked against the dashboard and was knocked out, still alive.

Shiro stirred in his sleep, hearing what sounded like beeping coming from beside him. He managed to open his eyes and looked around the room he was in. "How'd I get here?" He mumbled to himself as he tried to stand up, only to be held back with wires, IVs, a breathing mask, and a bandaged nose. He removes everything that is attached to him and managed to get out of bed. "Sarah?" He called out into an empty hallway, only to be greeted by silence. Suddenly some hallway lights turned off behind him and he heard it. He turned around to see if Sarah or Adam was behind him. "Sarah?" he called out again, only to be greeted by another set of lights going off. He widened his eyes in terror as more lights started going off. His only instinct was to run away as fast as he can from the darkness but it was catching up to him faster and faster. "SARAH!" He yelled out as he closed his eyes while still running, only to be greeted by a person grabbing him to stop him.

"She's gone. I'm sorry. They're gone. I'm sorry." A voice sobbed out to him while holding him. Shiro recognized the voice. It was Curtis, but after hearing about what he said about his family, He slid down sobbing hysterically and denying what he just heard. While Curtis was holding Shiro, He looked up and noticed Keith and he had tears silently rolling down his face before he turned around and ran out of the hospital.


	2. Reunion

It's been a year since the accident and during that time, Shiro had been trying to move on with his life. It was difficult for the first few months but soon he was able to get out of the house and slowly go back into his routine. Curtis has been helping him through it as well, making sure Shiro didn't have any panic attacks or breakdowns. One day, Shiro received an email from Keith asking if he and Curtis wanted to continue their yearly outdoor adventure with their other friends. Curtis told him that they didn't have to do it this year if he didn't want to, but Shiro wanted to move on with his life and he wanted to see his friends again, so he wrote back asking when and where they were meeting up at.

2 months later, Curtis and Shiro are driving a jeep down a road in the Appalachian Mountains towards the cabin that Keith owned. On the way down, Curtis looked at Shiro, who was looking out of the passenger window. He decided to check out the radio station to see what was playing. "Well, there's Mud, Blood, and Beer or Sweet Jesus. Great, turn that crap off." He said out loud before turning the radio back off. Shiro didn't even hear what Curtis had said because he was looking out of the window, thinking about Sarah again. Driving further down the road, they saw a sign that said 'Welcome to Chattooga national park' but with some bullet holes in the elk image. "That's comforting." Curtis points out but Shiro didn't respond.

"Hey, we don't have to do this you know." He told Shiro, who turned to look at him. Curtis didn't take his eyes off the road before continuing "We can head back and stay in town. Get wasted, go to a barn dance." He said the last words in a country accent. Shiro chuckled at that before jokingly replying "Now, that is frightening." They shared a laugh and turned back to look at the road. A few minutes later, Shiro heaved a sigh before speaking. "You're right. We don't have to do this, but I'm not gonna be the one to tell Keith." Curtis looked at him for a second before turning back to the road. "He's a piece of work, man. He always brings us out to the middle of—well, Look at it." He gestured to the large woods surrounding them. Shiro shook his head at the comment "He took us to Scotland last year." He pointed out. Curtis scoffed at this before saying "Yeah, and he left pretty fast too." The rest of the ride was in silence.

About an hour late, Curtis and Shiro pulled up outside the cabin that Keith owned. Keith was standing outside on the patio looking up to the cloudy sky when he heard a car door close. He walked around the cabin to see Shiro and Curtis grabbing their bags from the back of the jeep. "Hey Hey! Shiro! Curtis!" He called out to them. Shiro heard him and smiled. After grabbing his bags, he turned to look at Keith. "Hey, Keith! You look amazing!" He complimented him as he walked towards him. Keith wrapped his arms around Shiro giving him a hug. "Let me look at you for a second. Everything is gonna be fine. Actually, everything is gonna be great." He assured Shiro, who smiled at this.

Keith pointed to the cabin behind him before saying "Hunk and Pidge can't wait to see you. Why don't you head in?" He asked Shiro. Shiro nodded and went inside the cabin but not before he saw the skull of a deer hanging on a fence post. "Oh, Very cool." He complimented while poking the skull before resuming walking towards the cabin. Curtis walked up beside Keith with his bags. Keith turned to him and asked, "How is he holding up?" Curtis shrugged before answering "Well, He's here. One step at a time, right?" He asked Keith, who nodded in understanding.

Shiro walked up to the door of the cabin when he heard two voices inside. "Hey, who are you calling a fucking cheater?" a young female voice asked out loud. "I'm calling _you_ a fucking cheater!" another voice, a male, replied while laughing. Shiro smiled a little before walking into the cabin. "Hello?" He called out when he entered. He saw two people playing cards on the living room table, one was a 25-year-old man wearing an orange headband named Hunk and the other was a 22-year-old girl wearing glasses named Katie (Only Shiro calls her that) but her nickname is Pidge. They saw him entering and smiled before jumping up to hug him. Hunk was faster and grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug "Shiro! It's so good to see you!" He exclaimed excitedly as he actually lifted him up. "It's good to see you too, Hunk. Now can you put me down? I can't breathe." He asked him with a strangled breath.

Hunk put him back on the ground and apologized. "You look great, man." He told Shiro, who smiled and thanked him. "I think you look amazing," Pidge told him as she walked up to give him a hug, which Shiro gladly returned. Soon, Curtis and Keith came inside and everyone was chatting for a bit before Curtis told them he was starving, so he and Hunk went to the fridge to grab some food. "Hey, Katie. I wanted to say thank you for your letter, it really meant a lot." Shiro told Pidge. Pidge gave him a sad look before saying "I'm so sorry I couldn't be there. You know, Midterms and endless studying sessions." She apologized to him, but he told her it was fine. Keith places his hand on Shiro's shoulder before telling him "You know, Pidge is gonna be Doctor Holt in like a years' time." Everyone gave her a small cheer. "Tell me it's longer than that," Curtis asked her, which she shook her head no. 'I am so proud of you, hon." Hunk told her as he pulled her into a hug.

"Who wants a drink?" Keith asked out loud and everyone said yes. "I'll give you a hand," Shiro told him as they went to get the beer from the fridge. Pidge grabbed the other bags and went to put them in their room. "So, Curtis, I hear it all starts falling apart past 25." She jokingly told him. He smirked at the comment before throwing a peanut at her, hitting her on the check. She smiled and went back to drop off the bags. "Can anyone make me feel any older?" He asked the others. Before anyone could answer, a young man walked into the room. "Hello. You must be the teacher." He said to Curtis as he shook his hand. Curtis and Shiro looked at each other than to the others. "Oh, right. Shiro, Curtis, this is Lance, Keith's new Protégé?" Hunk told them.

"Oh really? I always thought Keith worked alone." Curtis joked at him. Keith just laughed and took a swig from his beer. Lance chuckled at this "I can handle myself pretty well, thank you very much." He told them. Shiro took a drink from his beer before saying "I recognize you. You're that nutjob that jumps off buildings." He pointed out. "Ah, Base Jumping! You guys should try it. Seriously." Lance told Shiro and Curtis, who politely said no. "So, you live in America now?" Curtis asked him. Lance nodded "I'm always looking for the next big high. I'm sure you guys know all about that." He told them. Shiro was confused by this "What do you mean?" he asked him. Lance pointed to Keith before responding "Keith showed me a photo when you guys used to climb together."

After hearing that, Keith chuckled and went to the kitchen. "I found this classic picture when I was cleaning the cabin." He told them as he waved the picture. Everyone gathered around to see the photo which showed Curtis, Shiro, and Keith smiling after climbing up the side of a mountain. Shiro smiled at the photo before saying "Enjoy each day. Something Adam used to say." Everyone smiled at that. Shiro wiped his eyes and smiled "Anyways, here's to our adventure." He said as he raised his beer to the others and they all clinked their bottles to celebrate. About 20 bottles of beer later, everyone was catching up and laughing. "So, have you ever done Boreham Caverns before?" Pidge asked Lance, who shook his head no. "I've seen it a book once. It's really for tourists, not for adventurers. Might as well have handrails and a fucking gift shop." He told her, unaware that Keith overheard this and gave a small smirk.

Later that night, Shiro was having trouble sleeping. He kept having dreams about Sarah and Adam. He sat up to see if Curtis was awake, only to see him sprawled out on his mattress snoring. Shiro gave a small smile before he heard an eagle cry outside the window. He got up to the window to see if he could see it but could only see darkness. He was about to go back to bed when he heard a child laughing, a girl to be exact. "Sarah?" He muttered to himself when he turned back to see if he could see her. Before he knew it, a metal pole shot through the window and straight into his head. Shiro woke up with a gasp and sat up. "A dream. It was just a dream," he told himself. After taking a few deep breaths, he set his head back down and went back to bed.


	3. Preparing for Adventure

The next morning, Keith was jogging through the woods as part of his usual workout routine. He jogged back to the cabin and went to Pidge's room. He started knocking on her door very loudly. Pidge groaned and begrudgingly got up to answer the door. "Wakey, Wakey!" Keith said in a cheery voice when he saw Pidge open the door absolutely hungover. "I feel like roadkill. Give me 5 minutes?" She asked him. "5 minutes." He told her and left to wake up the others. Pidge got out of her clothes and headed for the shower. She got under it and turned the water on, only she didn't know that it was very cold water. The second it hit her skin, she screamed in shock.

"Good morning, My little ones! Wakey, Wakey!" Keith announced as he went inside Hunk and Lances room to wake them up. He pulled Hunks blanket over his head and yelled "Good Morn!" Hunk groaned when the light hit his eyes. "Is that what you call it? It's fucking freezing!" He said as the cold air from the door hit his skin. "Lance!" Keith called out as raised his leg to his head. Lance walked out of his room rubbing his eyes "Yeah?" he asked him. "We're leaving at 7. Don't be late. Try that." Keith told him as he walked out. Lance tried raising his leg to his head, only to fall over, causing Hunk to laugh at him.

Curtis was in the kitchen making breakfast when Keith walked in. "Morning. Good jog?" Curtis asked him. "Morning and yeah. Oooh, Pancakes!" he exclaimed as he swiped one before going to his room to change. Meanwhile, Shiro was taking the pill that his doctor prescribed. "God, I hate these things." He muttered to himself as he took it. Dry swallowing it, he grabbed his jacket and went outside to join the others.

"Curtis, you are not driving. If you're driving, we'll never get there." Keith insisted to him with his mouth full of pancake. "Ok. Rock-Paper-scissors then." Curtis offered to him. Keith rolled his eyes but agreed. They shook their fists 3 times before revealing their choices. Keith chose scissors while Curtis chose rock. "There you go, dude," Curtis said triumphantly as he reached for the keys but Keith moved them out of his reach. "No way, man. Best of three." He argued to him. They fought over it for about 10 seconds till Keith felt someone snatch the keys from his grip. "I'll drive," Shiro told them while jingling the keys in front of them. "Ok Guys! Group photo!" Lance announced while carrying his camera on a tripod to the bottom of the stairs. "Ok, we got to hurry though. We're gonna be late." Keith told him while grabbing his lucky knife. Lance got his camera ready and set the timer. Everyone was lined up and ready when Lance was running up the stairs to join them. "Say Sausage!" He told them but only Hunk and Pidge shouted "Sausage!" and everyone smiled when the camera took their photo.

Soon, the gang was driving down the road towards there destination with Shiro, Curtis, and Lance in the front van while Hunk, Pidge, and Lance in the van behind them. "Hey Shiro, slow down a little, huh?" Curtis asked him but Shiro just laughed. "I'm having fun!" he told him causing Keith to smile. "Hey, turn there!" he pointed to a dirt road on the right. "Alright, we're going off-road!" Shiro cheered as he turned onto the road. In the other car, Hunk was driving, Pidge was fiddling with a wristwatch, and Lance was playing with the camera. "Here. You should have some water." Hunk suggested to Pidge while handing her a thermos. She took it but didn't take a drink yet. "I'm trying to set this damn watch, but these buttons are too fucking small." She said frustrated. "So, just leave it alone then." He told her while smiling at her struggle. "Why do you wear that thing anyway?" Lance asked her. "Hunk gave it to me when he asked me to be his girlfriend. It's sentimental." She told him while putting the watch on her wrist. Lance chuckled at the answer "It's kind of lame if you ask me. If I ever give that to a chick, she'd probably dump me right there." He joked at them. They both just shook their heads at the comment.

"Hey Keith, you sure we're going the right way?" Curtis asked him while looking outside. "Relax. I've never been lost in my life." Keith reassured him. "If you say so." Curtis sarcastically commented causing Shiro to laugh. Back in the other car, Pidge just finished taking a drink from the flask when she looked at Hunk. "So, have you done these caves before?" She asked him. Hunk shook his head "No, but they're only level 2. Don't worry, they're safe." He assured her. "I wasn't." She responded. "The only danger is that I might fall asleep. Boreham caves, More like Boredom caves." Lance added into the conversation, causing Pidge to smile.

After about 25 minutes, Keith had Shiro pull over to a small trail that leads up to the mountain with the others pulling up behind them. "There's a path to the caves up this way. I came up last week to check. Ok, let's get ready." He told them. Everyone got out of their vehicles to grab there caving gear (Ropes, Flashlights, Helmets, and Flares) Meanwhile, Keith brought out the guide book for the cave system they're going into, only to leave it the glovebox of the car. As soon as everything was loaded up in their gear bags, Keith said they had to get moving because they were running late. With Keith leading the way, everyone starting hiking towards the cave entrance.


	4. Climbing down

After walking through the forest for an hour, Curtis was getting a little impatient. "Hey, Keith. Are we there yet?" He asked the man in front. "There's a river about half a mile ahead. When we get there, we'll follow it up to the mouth of the cave, ok?" He answered back to him. "How does he know there's a river ahead? I can't hear a thing." Pidge asked the group. Lance shrugged "He can probably smell it." he joked. "He came up last week to check out the route. That's rule number 1: File a flight plan and stick with it." Hunk told the group. "What's rule #2?" Pidge asked him. "Don't go wandering off. If you think it's dark when we turn off the lights, well down there, Pitch black." He answered her and he started listing off the dangers of being underground, which everyone either listened or ignored.

The group cleared through some bushes when they were surprised by a flock of crows flying away from them. "Whoa," Lance said as he sprinted towards what the crows were surrounding, the corpse of a deer. He pulled out his camera to take a photo. "Yeah. That's great, Lance. Real Kodak moment?" Curtis sarcastically asked him as Pidge covered her mouth to examine the poor beast. "Hey, don't touch it!" Hunk berated her. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to piss it off." Curtis joked. Shiro walked up last and saw the corpse "What do you think did that Katie? A bear?" he asked her as she examined it. Before she could answer, Keith started walking ahead saying "What is this, 'Nature Detective?' It could've been fucking Bigfoot for all we know. Come on." He told them all and they started following him. Pidge did a look back and noticed that the bite marks on the deer looked a little like humans, but shrugged it off and continued to follow the others.

Another hour of walking, Keith climbed on top of a dead tree and looked down. "This is it." He told the others. Everyone looked over the tree and paled at the sight. "You're kidding, right?" Curtis asked hoping for a yes. "Sorry, Curt. Not this time." He answered him. "I'm an English teacher, not Nathan fucking Drake." He told him. "You'll be fine," Keith assured them all as they stared into a giant hole in the earth. "Okay, guys! Let's get everything ready to go." Keith told them as he set his bag down to get ready to descend down into the cave. Everyone followed his lead and got all of their gear ready. As soon as they had their gear bags, food, and lights stored into their rope bags, they started to make sure their harnesses were hammered down and their ropes were tied secured. "Ok, Shiro and Curtis, you're up next. Pidge, stay with Hunk. Do what he does and you'll be fine. Lance, safety first! I don't want any of your stunts this time." Keith told them before he started his descent. Hunk was explaining and helping Pidge with her gear until she grabbed his arms. "You know I have done this before right?" She rhetorically asked him. "I'm just looking after you." He tried to reason with her. "Yeah, I appreciate it, in small doses." She stated to him while getting her stuff ready by herself.

Keith was about halfway down the hole when Shiro and Curtis started their descent. Keith landed on the ground and looked around to see the amazing site around him. "You got to see this place! It's beautiful!" He shouted up to the others before he turned his headlamp on and looked around. Shiro landed on the ground with Curtis right behind him. "Well, that was a piece of crap," Curtis said as he unhooked his rope from his harness. They both looked around the cave amazed at the sight. "It's incredible," Shiro said looking straight up at the sky. Curtis looked at him and gave him a smile before shouting up to the others "Clear!" After hearing Curtis, Lance started his descent down, only instead of going slow like the others, He pretty much just dropped at full speed. "Incoming!" he shouted at them. "Shit! Move!" Shiro said as he grabbed Curtis and leaped out of the way. Lance landed and started to unhook his harness when Keith grabbed his rope and turned him to face him. "Lance. You do this safely, in order, following my lead, got it?" he scolded him. Lance nodded and continued to get his harness off. Shiro turned to Curtis "You ok?" he asked him Curtis blushed a little before answering "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." he replied while getting out of Shiro's grip. Soon, Hunk and Pidge were coming down next. "Keep it slow and easy," Hunk told her as he landed with her soon after.

After everyone was on the bottom of the tunnel, they looked around, amazed at the sight around them. "Keith," Lance said to grab his attention before holding up a camcorder to his face. "Smartass," Keith told him while waving him off. Shiro was walking around the edge of the cave looking up the sides until he notices what looked like fingerholes in the side but didn't inspect them too long, and he continued walking along the edge. He came upon a small cave and went to look inside, but it was too dark. He went to turn his headlamp on and was greeted by a black cloud of shrieking bats. Everyone turned around to see Shiro freaking out in the middle of the bat swarm. Lance was recording the whole thing, Hunk, Pidge and Curtis were trying their best to stifle their laughter and Keith ran up to him to calm him down. "Hey. It's okay. They're gone. They're gone. Look." He told Shiro as they both looked up to see the swarm flying out of the cave. "One bat, Two bats, fifty bats," Lance said in a phony Dracula accent. Curtis walked beside him and gave him a sarcastic smile 'Hey, Lance?" He asked. Lance turned to him only to be greeted by a slap upside the head. "Shut the fuck up." He told him before going to check on Shiro.

"Which way?" Pidge asked while still looking around. "There's only one way out of this chamber. We got to go down the pipe." Keith answered her while holstering a pickaxe. They found the first passage into the cave system and, one by one, they entered the cave. Climbing through the small tunnels took them a few hours until the managed to get into a large chamber. Keith noticed he was standing on a ledge and jumped down. "Careful, there's a drop." He told the others as they came up behind him. Shiro jumped down next, followed by Curtis. "Hey, Lance. Chuck us your bag." Keith asked. Lance tossed him his bag and he pulled out 2 flares. He lit one up and tossed it in a random direction. The light almost filled the whole chamber. Everyone was amazed by the sight and size of the chamber while Keith lit up the other 1 and threw it in another direction.

Everyone instantly splits up to explore the chamber. Shiro climbed up a ledge in the middle of the chamber was look all around when he heard the same laugh from his dream again. He decided to investigate the sound when he came upon a small opening. He looked inside a small opening. Thinking that the noise came from here, He looked inside to see what was there. He heard the noise again but was relieved to see that it was just water dripping from crevices inside. Taking a breath, He turned around to join the others. Only to be surprised by Keith dropping down right in front of him. "Find anything good?" He asked him. "Jesus Christ," Shiro said laughing the shock off. Keith smiled "Come on. Let's eat." He told him while tuning back to meet the others. Shiro looked back at the small cavern but just shrugged it off and joined the others.


	5. Buried Feelings

Everyone was sitting around eating when Keith noticed Lance was still recording the chamber with his night vision camcorder. "Lance, take a break, would ya?" He asked him. "I just want to take a few more shots. This cave is a hell of a lot cooler than I thought." He replied back. Keith smiled at that before he continued to eat. "Hey, heads up," Hunk called out to Pidge as he tossed an apple towards her, which she caught. Curtis smiled at them before turning to look at Shiro, who was busy checking his headlamp. "Hey," Keith said while showing Shiro a sandwich. "Not hungry." He told him before turning back to his gear. Keith gave a look of concern. "You ok?" he asked him. Shiro chuckled a bit. "Keith, I'm not gonna break ok? I'm fine. I wanted to do this, remember?" He assured him. "Yeah, I know. Hey, um, Shiro?" He asked him, getting Shiro to look at him again. "I never got a chance to say that I'm really sorry that I didn't stay long after the accident." He apologized with some tears forming in his eyes.

Shiro was taken by a surprise a bit but didn't say anything because he was reminded of Sarah and Adam. "Anyways, we're all here for you now, ok?" Keith assured him. "Yeah. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm gonna go take a look around, ok?" He told him while getting up. Keith nodded in understanding "Why don't you find a way through, huh?" He asked him, who nodded in response. "Hey. Don't go too far, ok?" Curtis playfully warned him. Shiro smiled a bit "Whatever you say, babe." He playfully responded back before climbing up a ledge. Lance was a little confused by Shiro. "What's up with him? He looks like he's seen a ghost or something." He asked Keith. "He's fine." He mumbled to him. Curtis stood up and walked over to Lance. "Did Keith tell you what happened a year ago?" He asked him, who responded by shaking his head. Curtis took a breath "Shiro lost his husband and daughter in a car accident. He was a wreck. Had trouble getting out of bed. It took him months before he was able to get his life back together." He explained to him. Lance was shocked by this but felt bad for being a jerk to him. Keith reached down to get his flask to get a drink. "Well, seems like it working because he's here right?" He asked him while setting the flask down.

Shiro was walking around the chamber, trying to find a way into the next chamber. He noticed a hole in the wall of the chamber. He walked up to it and shined his light inside and smiled at what he found. "I found the next passage!" He shouted to the others. Everyone packed up their stuff and walked to where Shiro was waiting. After seeing the passage entrance, Hunk was confused. "That's it? Looks a bit small, doesn't it?" Lance asked. "All right!" Keith exclaimed as he walked up, only to be stopped by Hunk. "I don't get this." He told him. Keith was confused by his comment. "What do you mean?" he asked him. "This isn't how I imagined it from the book," Hunk told in a whisper not to alert the others. "That's why I don't trust books. They leave too much room for interpretation." Keith told him. Shiro walked down to them "Something wrong?" he asked them. They both replied no before Keith tossed one of the rope bags to him to carry. "I'll take point, guys," Lance told them as he tossed the other rope bag inside the passage. "Just be careful. Find a way through. Shout to us when you get through." Keith told him as he started crawling into the tunnel.

Lance was a few feet in when he noticed something that looked slime dripping down from the top of the passage. "What the hell?" He mumbled to himself but just continued to get through the tunnel. After going through a partial water-filled tunnel and an extremely cramped dry tunnel, He was able to get into another chamber. "Ok! I'm Through!" He shouted to others as he turned back to look at the entrance, waiting for the others. One by one, everyone started to crawl through the tunnel. Shiro was the last to enter. He was getting ready to start crawling when he heard giggling. He turned around to see what it was but just saw a flare-lit chamber. He turned back to start his trek through the passage.

He was crawling through a really tight tunnel when he couldn't move anymore. Panic was setting in as he tried to move, but couldn't. Curtis heard him struggling and turned his head to see what was happening. "Shiro? Are you still behind me?" he asked him. "Yeah." Shiro managed to say before he tried to move, only to be still stuck. Curtis was worried "Hey guys. I think Shiro is stuck!" He shouted at them. "I am stuck!" He shouted back. "Ok, just calm down and relax," Curtis told him. Shiro was having difficulty breathing when he answered: "I can't fucking relax." Curtis was trying his best to calm him down. "Shiro, you have to calm down and the only way you're going to do that is to breath. So, breath slowly. Just keep breathing." Curtis instructed him, but it fell on deaf ears as Shiro was now hyperventilating, having a near panic attack. Curtis crawled out of the tunnel, only to turn around to help Shiro. "Shiro, I'm coming back." He told him as he was crawling back to him.

Shiro was borderline hysteric when he saw Curtis coming towards him. "Hey, look at me, Shiro," Curtis instructed him as he reached him. "What are you afraid of? What are you so afraid of?" He asked him. "I can't fucking move!" He snapped at him but Curtis didn't care. "You can move!" He assured him. Curtis grabbed Shiro's face to make look at him. "Shiro, look at me! Look at me!" He told him. Shiro looked at him, calming down a bit. "Listen. The worst thing that could've happened to you has already happened, ok? And you're still here." He assured him. "This is just a cave and there is nothing left to be afraid of. Ok?" He asked him, but Shiro was still freaking out a bit. Without giving it another thought, Curtis kissed him to calm him down. Shiro was surprised by this but was able to calm down. Curtis broke the kiss "Sorry. Couldn't think of anything else. Come on, grab my arm." He told Shiro, who reached out and grabbed it. They started to move towards the exit when Shiro realized something. "The rope bag. What about the rope bag?" He asked him. "Don't worry. I'll get it after we get out." He assured him. They moved about a foot when a rock suddenly dropped down a bit above them.

They both looked at the rock and heard rumbling soon after. "Fuck the rope bag. Move! NOW!" Curtis shouted as he and Shiro started moving like hell. Shiro looked back to see more rocks had fallen, blocking the tunnel behind him. "Come on! MOVE!" Curtis shouted as he and Shiro managed to get through the tunnel to the others, only to be greeted by a cloud of dust that swallowed everyone.


	6. Secrets Unearthed

"…ro? Shiro?!" Curtis yelled as he slapped Shiro awake. He was surprised by the slap but was fully awake. "You all right?" Curtis asked him. "Yeah, I'm alright." He answered while sitting up. "Is everyone ok?" Keith asked the group as he went to check on Lance, but as soon as he put on a hand on him, He pulled away. "Don't fucking touch me! I'm fine!" He snapped at him. "Hunk? You ok?" Keith asked looking towards him. "Yeah, I'm fine." He responded then looked at Curtis. "Curt, are you hurt?" He asked him. Curtis shook his head "No, I'm fine." He assured him. Keith stood up to look at everyone. "Nobody moves until the dust has settled." He ordered. "Don't worry, Keith. We're not going anywhere." Hunk assured him. Lance turned to look at the entrance where they came in from, only to see it completely caved in. "I think you might be right about that." He told Hunk, causing everyone to look at the entrance and be disappointed.

"So, what's the story now?" Lance asked them. Keith just walked to the entrance, looking completely lost. "According to the guidebook, this cave system has at least 3 ways in and out. This is just one of them. Isn't that right Keith?" Hunk asked the man, who didn't respond. "Keith, that is right, isn't it?" He asked him again, only to be answered by silence. "Check the book!" He insisted at him. Keith turned to look at him "I didn't bring it." He told him. Hunk gave him a look of confusion. "What?" He asked him again. "There wasn't any point to," Keith told him. Hunk had a look of realization on his face. "For fucks sake, Keith! I knew this wasn't fucking right!" He shouted at him. Curtis was confused by this "Wait. Hunk, you filed a flight plan with mountain rescue, right? If we don't report it, then they'll come looking for us." He reminded him. "Yeah, that's how it supposed to work except for one thing. I put in a flight plan for Boreham caverns and this _isn't _Boreham caverns, is it, Keith?" Hunk scolded at the man who led them down. "Wait, we're in the wrong fucking cave?!" Curtis angrily asked him. Keith turned to look at everyone to defend himself. "Lance was right. Boreham caverns was a tourist trap. I didn't think…." He started but was interrupted by Lance. "Don't try to pin this fucking bullshit on me!" He angrily told him. Shiro got up off the ground and looked around the chamber they were in. "This isn't a caving trip. It's an ego trip." Hunk coldly stated. "Come on Hunk, I didn't know this was going to happen. This is exactly what we believe in. We've always said 'If there's no risk, what's the point?'" Keith said in defense for what is happening. "Don't you dare try to justify this." Hunk scolded him. Pidge got between the 2 and turned to Keith. "Where are we exactly?" She asked him. Keith looked down before answering. "It hasn't got a name. It's a new system. I wanted us all to discover it. No one has ever been down here before." He explained to everyone. They all groaned in fear and disappointment.

Shiro was looking at the ceiling of the chamber while everyone was still arguing about there predicament. "So how the hell do we get out?" Curtis asked them. "There may not even be a way out!" Lance snapped at him. "Look, there's no going back now. We have to find out of this chamber and keep pushing forward." Keith told them. Curtis walked right up to his face. "What the fuck were you thinking? We all trusted you. You told me this was going to be great for Shiro. Have you any idea what he's been through? No, because you couldn't get away fast enough, you fucking prick!" He berated him. While Curtis was scolding Keith, Shiro was still around the chamber when his light passed a strange rock formation. Only when he went to look at it again, it was gone. "You know something, Curt? We all lost something in that crash." Keith coldly told him. Shiro heard some skittering from the ceiling, but no one else heard from the fighting. "Just get us out of here." Curtis coldly told Keith and walked away from him. Keith took a breath. "Look, sometimes cave systems can break ground. It's a small chance, but if we stay here, we'll die. Now let's go." He insisted to them. Seeing no other choice, everyone agreed to Keith's suggestion.

Everyone started to look for an exit out of the chamber. Shiro grabbed Curtis's arm and motioned him to follow him into a corner. "You ok?" Curtis asked him. Shiro nodded before speaking. "I just wanted to know why you kissed me back in the tunnel?" He asked him in a whisper. Curtis looked down in embarrassment. "Mainly it was to calm you down, but the rest was because I kind of wanted to." He answered him in a whisper. Shiro thought about what he had said for a second before he grabbed Curtis's face and kissed him. After about 10 seconds, Shiro broke the kiss and looked at him. "Guess you beat me to the punch than, huh?" He jokingly whispered to him. Curtis chuckled a bit before they heard the sound of rocks clattering.

They turned to see that Keith was knocking some rocks away from the entrance of a small passageway. They walked up and joined the others, who thankfully didn't see their little make-out session. After clearing away the rocks, Pidge started to walk through the tunnel. She didn't get even 5 feet before Keith shouted "Freeze!" she stopped and turned to look at him. "What?" She asked him scared. "Don't move, Pidge! Just don't move! Stay right there." He told her as he rushed up beside her. Pidge looked down, only to see she was standing on the edge of a very deep chasm. Keith got up to her and pulled out a flare. After lighting it he threw across the chasm into another tunnel on the other side. The gap was about 40 feet across and walking over to it wasn't an option. Everyone grouped together to see what the problem was. "Shit, No more." Curtis mumbled as he grabbed a rock and tossed it over the edge. After about 7 seconds, they heard the rock make an impact on the bottom.

"112 feet. Thanks, Curt. Now I know how far down it is." Hunk told him. Curtis sat down next to Shiro before asking "What now?" Hunk and Keith looked at the ceiling of the cave and noticed a large crack going from their position to the other side. "Looks like one of us has to get all the way across there, so they can rig a line for everyone." He explained to them. "I'll go." Keith told him. "No, I'll go." Hunk insisted. "Hunk, I got us into this mess. Let me get us out of it." He told him. Hunk turned to him "If you didn't want to get us out of this mess, you shouldn't have brought us here. This is my job, so just let me do it." Hunk berated him. Keith heaved a sigh of defeat and moved back a little. Hunk looked at the crack again. "Ok, I have three cams. I need at least three more. Where's the other rope bag?" He asked the others. Keith turned to Shiro and Curtis since they had it last. "Where is it?" He asked them both. They both looked at each other and back to them. "We lost it when the cave collapsed. Sorry." Curtis explained to them. Hunk sighed a little disappointed but he got ready. After putting on his gloves, He reached up into the crack and clenched his fists together to keep him from falling. Keith was on belay as everyone watched in anticipation as Hunk moved along the crack. Hunk placed the first cam and secured the rope about 10 feet away. The stress of holding himself up and placing the cam caused Hunk to gasp in exhaustion.

"Come on, Hunk." Keith motivated him. Hunk took a few deep breaths and continued along the crack. He managed to set the second cam and secured the rope about 15 away. Hunk was getting exhausted at this point. "Come on, Hunk. What are you waiting for?" Keith asked him. Hunk looked to see how much further he had to go when he noticed what looked like a piton, only it was kind of rusty. "What the fuck?" Hunk said to himself. The others were getting worried. "You ok? What's wrong?" Keith asked him. Hunk shook his head "It's nothing. I'm alright." He assured them as he grabbed a carabiner and hooked it into the piton. "I need some more slack here, guys." He told them and they gave it to him. After making sure the rope was secured, He managed to set foot in the other tunnel. "Nice job." Keith complimented. "Ok. Throw me the red rope!" He asked them. Pidge grabbed the rope and tossed one end of it to Hunk and held on to the other end.

After the rig was set up, Lance was the first one to cross. "Come on." Hunk told him as he held out his hand. Lance took it and hauled himself up. After unhooking the zipline, Lance shot it across the line to the others. Pidge was the next one across. "You made that look way easy." Hunk playfully told her. "Yeah well, you made it looked hard." She told him. Next to cross was Curtis, who was a little scared by the height. "Don't look down, Curt. Keep going." Keith told him. Curtis took a breath and continued to cross. As soon as he made it across, Curtis shot the rig back to Keith and Shiro. Keith was rigging Shiro to go next. "Was this about me or you?" Shiro asked him. Keith was surprised by the question. 'It's about us. Getting back to what we used to be. I wanted us to claim this place, name it. I thought maybe your name." He answered him in an honest tone. Shiro scoffed "Or maybe yours?" he rebutted back at him before he started to cross the chasm. Keith was hurt by what Shiro had said. He needed to prove to them that he wasn't a bad guy. As soon as he saw Shiro make it to the other side, He went back and detached his end of the rig. When Shiro went to send it back to Keith, he noticed the rope went limp. "Keith?" He called out to him. Keith came up to the edge with the rope rolled up in his hand. "We'll need everything we got." He told them as he dropped the rope over the edge. "Haul it in." He told Shiro, who started to roll it in. Keith took a breath, patted his knife for good luck and started to shimmy across the chasm the same way Hunk did to get the cams. He got the first one, but then he shook his fists to get rid of the pain before continuing on. He made it to the second cam and removed, only to have his body turn and put more pressure on the arm that was holding him up. He tried to put his other arm in the crack but couldn't reach. "Come on! Reach out!" Hunk encouraged him. Trying to muster some strength, Keith shot his up. Only to lose his grip and start falling into the chasm.

"KEITH" Everyone shouted. Hunk tried to stop his fall, but the rope burned right through gloves and ripped his skin off his hands. Keith finally stopped falling and everyone grabbed the rope to keep him up. Keith looked up and noticed the piton that was holding him up was starting to come loose. He looked at the others in fear as the piton dislodged and caused Keith to smack against the wall of the chasm, but he didn't fall. "Don't worry Keith. We got you. Okay, Pull!" Shiro told the others. Shiro and Curtis started to pull Keith up. "Lance, let me pass!" Pidge told him as she crawled over to Hunk. "Let me see your hands, babe." She asked him. Hunk showed her his hands, which had a massive gash on each one and was bleeding pretty badly. Shiro and Curtis managed to get Keith up. Keith was totally shaken up by that near-death experience but managed to calm down.

Shiro grabbed the piton to examine it. "What does this mean?" he asked Keith. "It means we're not the first." He simply stated. Pidge was busy treating Hunks wounds while the others we're talking. "It's a piton, right? So, if there were cavers down here before, maybe there's a chance we can get out?" Curtis asked hopefully. Keith took the piton out of his hands to show them something. "This thing is at least 100 hundred years old. No one uses stuff like this anymore. Besides, if anyone had been down here and made it out, it would've had a name already." He explained to them, causing them to be disheartened a little. Keith looked at Hunk and Pidge. "Hunk, You okay?" He asked him. Hunk nodded "Yeah, I'll live." He told him. Keith nodded and looked towards the passage. "Lance, how does it look?" He asked him. "It's tight again but I can get through." He answered back as he continued to crawl through. "Alright, we'll be right behind you. Just keep going." Keith told him as he helped to get the gear.

After crawling for about 30 min, Lance managed to get into another chamber when he noticed something on the wall in front of him. "Hey guys, there's something down here." He called back to the others. Soon, the group managed to get inside the chamber to see what Lance was seeing: A cave painting depicting the mountain. "Guys, it's awesome, but the batteries in our lights are going to run out. So, I suggest we keep moving." Keith told them. "Hey, hold on a second!" Curtis shouted to them when he noticed something about the painting. "What is it, Curt?" Hunk asked him. "Hey Keith, light up a flare." He told him. "Curt, we don't have time for this." Keith tried to tell him. "Just light a damn flare, would you?" Hunk told him. Keith gave him a look before pulling out a flare. When he lit the flare, everyone saw the painting much clearer. It had drawings of animals, the mountain and two dark spots on it. "Really pretty, Curt but it's fucking useless." Lance told him frustrated. Curtis shook his head "No, look at it. what do you see?" He asked them. They looked at the painting again when Curtis pointed out something. "Look. You've got the mountain, the cave and there are 2 entrances." He pointed out to them. Everyone smiled at the theory Curtis provided. "you're a fucking genius!" Hunk told him. "I got my moments." Curtis said with confidence as he looked at Shiro, who smiled at him. "This means there's another way out?" Pidge asked. "Only one way to find out. Come on." Lance told them as he walked down to passageway beneath the painting. Everyone followed him, unaware a soft growl that came from behind them.


	7. Paranoia and Fear

After crawling for about 30 min, they came into a chamber filled with multiple tunnels. "Fuck!" Lance exclaimed in frustration. "Which way?" Pidge asked scared. "Lance, did you bring your lighter?" Keith asked him while stowing his flashlight. Lance reached into his pocket and handed it to him. Keith walked to one of the tunnels, lit it and held it to the entrance. "If there's a breeze, it's the right tunnel." He explained to them. The flame didn't flicker, so he moved on to the next one. "Come on!" Lance begged. The flame didn't flicker at that tunnel either. "Damn it," Keith grumbled as he went to another one tunnel. He held the lighter up and the flame flickered. "That one!" Lance exclaimed as he dove into the tunnel and started moving through it. "Lance! Slow down!" Keith called out to him as he ran after him. Lance didn't hear the warning as he ran through the tunnel. He stopped when he noticed some light at the end of it. "Daylight! I can see daylight!" He called back to others before running towards the light. Keith was right behind him when he heard what he had said. "Lance, that's not daylight!" he warned him. Lance reached the light, but when he walked towards it, he fell into a hole he failed to notice. "Lance!" Keith yelled as he grabbed his hand to stop from falling. "Help me!" Lance begged as he tried to keep his grip. "Hold on! Guys!" Keith yelled trying to keep his grip on Lance, but Lance's gloves were sliding off. "Lance! Hold on!" Keith exclaimed, but Lance's glove slid off and he fell down the hole. Lance slammed his leg against a rock and hit the ground hard. Keith turned back towards the others "Pidge! Get the fuck down here! Lance!" he yelled.

Lance groaned a bit at the bottom of the hole. Lance tried to sit himself up, but his left leg was in excruciating pain. "I think I hurt my leg!" he yelled to others above him. "Don't move! We're coming down to you!" Keith ordered as he helped the others to descend down. Finally managing to sit up, Lance went look at his leg. "Oh shit." He mumbled as he saw something horrible sticking out of pant leg: his bone. He barely touched it, only to be replied with sharp shooting pain. "AAAAAGGGGHHHHH! Fuck" He exclaimed in sheer pain. He looked up to see Pidge was slowly coming down. "You guys may want to hurry up!" He yelled at them.

As soon as everyone was down, Pidge got straight to work. She cut open Lances pant leg to assess the damage. It looked like some of Lance's femur had broken and had protruded through his skin, leaving a bloody mess. "Oh my god, that's fucking disgusting!" Curtis gagged at the sight. "Curt! Not here, not now!" Pidge told him. "I need help! Everyone, grab a corner! We need him out of the water!" She ordered them. Curtis went to pick Lances from the right shoulder, Keith the left. Hunk grabbed his right leg while Pidge got the left. Shiro was busy pulling the ropes down from above. "Nice and easy now! Ok, Lift!" Pidge ordered them. Lance groaned in pain as they lifted him and placed him on a nearby ledge. "Ok, find something to make a splint out of!" Pidge ordered as she got here med kit out. "Here's a flashlight," Curtis said as he grabbed it out of the bag. "Keith, use one of the pickaxes." Hunk suggested as he went to keep Lances leg down. Keith grabbed the ax and removed the ends to use for the splint.

While everyone was helping Lance, Shiro heard the same giggling from before. He turned to see a tunnel behind him. He looked at the others, but they were too busy, and he went down the tunnel. Keith handed the pickax to pidge and turned to talk to Shiro, but couldn't find him. "Shiro?" he asked but didn't get a response. "Keith, I'm gonna need your help here!" Pidge told him, but Keith started to walk to the tunnel. "Shiro!" He yelled again but was again answered by silence. "Keith!" Pidge yelled at him in urgency. Keith turned back to help the others. "Keep hold of his arms. You're gonna have to hold him down." She ordered him. Keith nodded and held Lance's arms down. 'What are you going to do?" Lance asked Pidge scared. "I have to dress the wound and rig up a splint, but I can't do that with the bone protruding like this. I have to push it back in." She told him. "I fucking hate you," Lance told her. "Yeah, I know." She told him. "Do it." He told her. She grabbed some rope from her belt and put it in Lance's mouth. "You're gonna have to bite down on this." She told him. Lance obliged and the others held him down with Keith holding his hand. "Ready?" She asked him. He nodded and braced himself. "GO!" She yelled and started to push his bone back in. Lance screamed in pain as he tried to thrash but the others kept in pinned down. "Come on!" Pidge exclaimed in frustration as she pushed the bone in with all her strength. Lance was crying as the process continued for what seemed like hours but was only minutes. Finally, Pidge was able to get the bone back into its place. "Ok, someone hand me my med kit!" Keith reached down and handed it to her before going after Shiro.

Shiro was walking down the tunnel, trying to find the source of the giggling. He went further down and found a miner's helmet, only it was very rusted like it had been down here for years. After examining it, he placed it back where he found it, only to hear something coming from his right. He was very scared, but he turned to see what the sound was. Using his headlamp, he looked further down the tunnel. What he saw upright terrified him. It looked a pale man drinking water from a stream. He gasped in shock at the sight in front of him, but as soon as he did, the man turned to him and crawled into the shadows. Shiro turned around to go back to his friends, only to be surprised by Keith. "What are you doing?" He asked Shiro. "I just saw something ahead in the tunnel." He told him and he turned back to find the man again but couldn't. Keith had a worried look on his face after what Shiro had told him. "Shiro, I promise that we're going to get out of here, but I can't do it unless you're with me." He tried to explain to him. Shiro didn't hear him as he still looked for the man in the tunnel. Keith had enough and turned Shiro to look at him. "Shiro, there's nothing there." He told him. Shiro just gave him a look of anger and went to the others. Keith looked down the tunnel before he followed him.

"OK. That's the best I can do. It'll hurt like hell and you won't be able to put much weight on it but at least you can move." Pidge explained to Lance as she finished up mending his leg. "Anyone trapped down would be a skeleton by now," Keith explained to Shiro as they met up with the others. "I'm telling you, that's exactly what it was. Curt." Shiro stated. "What was what?" Curtis asked as he removed his jacket to give to Lance. "Shiro thinks he saw something back there," Keith explained to Curt. "Saw what?" Curt asked while fixing his undershirt. Shiro turned angrily to Keith "I don't _think _I saw someone. I _saw _someone!" He insisted on him. "No. you heard something and you saw what you wanted to see. It's the dark. It plays tricks on people." Keith tried to explain to him. Shiro was getting frustrated "I can describe to you exactly what I saw!" he told them all. Pidge was confused "What did you see?" she asked him. Shiro turned to her "a man. I saw a man." He answered her. Hunk was confused "Are you sure about that?" he asked him. "Yes! and it's not the first time. I thought I saw someone before but now I'm sure. If there is someone down here, maybe they can help us get out." He tried to explain to them. "Shiro, there's no one down here. Forget about it." Keith told him. "Hey! Right now, we have to get Lance out of here. That's all that matters right now." Hunk told everyone. Keith went to help Lance and Hunk went to get the gear. Shiro couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. "Curt!" he exclaimed to his boyfriend. Curtis walked up and hugged him. "It's okay." He assured him while letting him go. Shiro just heaved a sigh of defeat and looked up at the tunnel.

After getting everything put away, the group continued down a tunnel to find a way out. Curtis was helping Lance along in the back as the others were in front. "Why are we walking away? There was daylight back there." Lance asked them as they continued down the tunnel. "That wasn't daylight. It was phosphorous in the rock. We're 2 miles underground. The only light down here is ours." Keith explained. Lance groaned as he set his foot down "Well, it looked like fucking daylight to me!" he exclaimed in pain. Keith came upon a fork in the tunnel. He lit the lighter he had to see if there was a breeze coming from the tunnels. He started with the left, no flicker. He moved to the right and the flame flickered. "Right tunnel!" he told the others behind him.

They came into a chamber with water running down a ledge above them. After everyone managed to get up onto the ledge, Lance had to sit down because the pain was getting to be a little too much. Curtis looked around the chamber "Jesus, what is this place?" he asked them. Shiro reached into Lance's bag and pulled out his night vision camcorder. "Lance, where's the night vision button?" He asked him. Lance hit the switch on the camcorder and the night vision was activated. Shiro used it to see what in the cave but was terrified at what he saw. "Dead animals. Hundreds of them." He told them. Everyone was scared shitless now. "This isn't good guys." Curtis fearfully said. "Can we get out of here?" Pidge asked scared. Keith lit the lighter to find a breeze. The flame didn't flicker at all. "I don't know." He silently answered. Curtis turned to look at him "What do you mean you don't know?" he asked him. "There's no breeze it could be any one of these tunnels. Take your pick." He told them as he pocketed the lighter. "Fuck it! HELLO!" Hunk yelled out. "Is there anybody there?!" Pidge yelled out. "HELLO!" Curtis yelled out. Shiro turned to look at Curtis, only to be greeted by a pale creature standing right behind him.

Shiro yelled in fear as the creature barreled through the others and seemingly disappeared. Everyone was scared at what just happened and they tried to find where that thing went. "There! It's up there! On the roof!" Keith pointed out to everyone. Everyone looked up but saw nothing. Lance was still on the ground, totally terrified at what happened. Curtis went over to him to help him up. Keith lit up a flare to illuminate the tunnel and to find the creature. "What the fuck was that?!" Curtis asked everybody. "I don't know. It moved so fast; I can barely see it!" Hunk exclaimed in fear. "I've never seen anyone climb like that before," Keith told them. Shiro turned to the others "I told you I saw someone!" He exclaimed to them. "That wasn't a fucking human being!" Pidge yelled at him before going to help Lance. "Screw this! Let's take our chances and pick a tunnel. Move!" Keith ordered as he and Shiro walked towards a tunnel, only to be stopped by an inhuman shriek. Scared out of their minds, everyone regrouped and looked around the chamber. There was a sound of skittering all around them. "What's it doing?" Pidge asked, hugging Hunk very tightly. "Oh fuck, it's circling us." Curtis realized while holding Lance up. Everyone looked all around but couldn't find the thing anywhere. "Where is it?" Curtis asked terrified. Shiro noticed a tunnel and shouted "This way! Move!" to others. Everyone started running down the tunnel. Keith was helping with Lance when Shiro turned to him. "The flare! Get rid of it!" He told him. Keith turned around and chucked the flare back into the chamber. "Lance, keep moving! Come on!" He told the injured friend.

When they turned a corner, they were face to face with the creature. It shrieked at them and, in a panic, everyone was separated. Keith was knocked down losing his helmet, Curtis and Shiro continued down the tunnel, and Hunk and Pidge went down a different tunnel. Lance was struggling to stand upright when the creature jumped over him. It shrieked at him before jumping on top of him and sinking its fangs into his neck. "AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" he screamed in fucking pain as the creature ripped out a chunk of flesh. Lance fell to the ground with his neck wound oozing blood as the creature landed beside him, hissing at Keith. "Lance!" He exclaimed as he went to his friend. The creature scurried off into the dark as Keith approached. "Lance!" he said as he flashed his flashlight into Lances eyes, which responded. The creature shrieked as he rushed towards him and knocked him out of the way of Lance. It hissed at him as it grabbed Lance and proceeded to drag him away. Keith recovered and grabbed Lance and tried to pull him back, but the creature wasn't giving up.

Meanwhile, Shiro and Curtis were running away from the creature. Shiro splashed into a puddle and continued down the tunnel, but Curtis tripped and fell into the puddle. "Shiro! Run!" He yelled. Shiro was too busy running, he didn't notice a hole in front of him. He fell down and hit his head against a rock on the bottom. The force of the impact not only shorted out his headlamp but it also knocked him unconscious as well.

Keith was still struggling to get Lance away from the creature. He pulled out his pickax. "Get away from him, you fucker!" he yelled as he swung his ax at it, hitting it in the face. "Lance." He said looking down, only to find his friend was dead. Furious at what just happened, he heard the creature, which now had a scar, growling. He looked right at it with a look of pure vengeance, but before he could do anything to it, another creature came up from behind and tackled him to the ground. While Keith was struggling with the new creature, the scarred one grabbed Lance and dragged him away down the tunnel. After a difficult struggle, Keith managed to get the creature on its back. He grabbed his pickaxe and brought down onto the creature's stomach. "Fucker!" Keith yelled as he continued to swing his ax into the creature. With one last swing, Keith got up and looked at the creature, panting over the ordeal. Suddenly, he sensed something behind him. As he turned around, he swung his ax. Only it wasn't another creature he hit. It was Curtis, with the pickaxe through his neck.

In shock, Keith didn't move as Curtis fell to his knees, never taking his eyes off of him. Before Curtis fell to the ground, He grabbed Keith's knife in his hand. Keith didn't even notice as he slowly backed up into a nearby tunnel. "Don't leave me," Curtis whispered while holding his neck wound. It fell on deaf ears as Keith vanished into the tunnel.


	8. Know your enemy

Hunk and Pidge were scrambling through a tunnel until they felt they were safe enough to stop for a breather. "Shit. My battery died." Hunk whispered as he removed his helmet. Pidge looked behind them to see if anything was following them. "What happened to the others? Hunk, please say that we're going to get out of here." Pidge asked in fear. Hunk grabbed a large glowstick and lit it to illuminate the tunnel. "Don't worry, we'll get out. Let's go." He reassured her as he motioned for her to go first down the tunnel. She turned her headlamp back on and started down the tunnel. Hunk loaded up the rest of his gear and was soon walking behind her, unaware there was another creature right above them.

Shiro looked around and saw a little girl sitting with her back turned to him. "Sarah?" he asked as he walked up to her. As he reached out to touch her shoulder, she suddenly turned into a creature and shrieked at him. Shiro opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. He caught the smell of something disgusting and gagged a little as he got up from the ground. He managed to find the camcorder and used it to see where he was, only to be greeted by the sight of thousands of animal and human carcasses. A shriek soon came from above him and he immediately crawled into a corner to hide from the creatures. After a few seconds past, He slowly started to move forward to leave the chamber. When suddenly, something heavy dropped right in front of him. Startled he moved back to the spot he came from and looked through the camcorder to see what had fallen. It was Lance's body. Before he could do anything, a family of those creatures called out and moved in on the body. They proceeded to eat it right in front of Shiro, who closed his eyes at the sight but kept the camera on them.

Elsewhere, Hunk and Pidge came into a small chamber. Before they could move forward, they heard shrieking coming heading for them. "Fuck." Hunk whispered as he looked around. He noticed a ledge, handed Pidge the glowstick and climbed onto the ledge. Pidge started to climb after him but dropped the glowstick in the process. She went to grab it, but the sounds of the creatures were getting closer, so she left it on the ground and joined Hunk on the ledge. They both laid down against the wall, hoping to avoid them. "Turn your light off." Hunk whispered as he switched her light off. He wrapped his arms around her and waited.

Shiro was still trying to keep quiet from the creatures, but when he opened his eyes to see them, he ended up gagging a little at the sight. Hearing the sound, a creature immediately looked his way and was growling at him. Shiro immediately went silent as the creature was trying to sense where the sound came from. It let off a few growls hoping to scare whatever made the noise to reveal itself, but Shiro managed to stay quiet. The creature moved forward a little until…. "Shiro! SHIRO!" Keith yelled in a distant part of the cave, hoping to find him. The creatures immediately went after the sound, leaving Shiro alone.

Hunk and Pidge were still laying inside of the ledge when one of the creatures approached them. They both went silent as it chittered and moved its head around, trying to hear something. Picking up a slight sound, it turned its head towards them and let loose a loud growl straight at them. They closed their eyes, hoping that it wouldn't see them. The creature gave a soft chittering sound before crawling away from them. Hunk eyes followed it as it leaped up a ledge and was swallowed in darkness. "They can't see us." Pidge deduced in a whisper. She went to look back at it but as soon as she did, her watch started going off. The sound alerted the creature and immediately turned back and started hastily crawling at them. After a few agonizing seconds, Pidge removed the watch and chucked it at the bottom of the chamber. The creature followed the sound and bopped it with its nose, setting it off again, startling it.

Meanwhile, Keith was in a full-blown panic as he tried to find the others. He heard Pidge's watch going off somewhere. "Hunk? Pidge?" He called out. The creature heard Keith yelling and went after him. Pidge recognized whose voice was yelling. "It's Keith." She whispered. "The noise he's making, he'll bring every one of those things right to him." Hunk whispered to her. "As long as it isn't to me." She fearfully said. As Keith was running through the tunnel, he noticed some marking on the cave. It looked like an arrow and it wasn't the first time he's seen it. He kept moving down the tunnels. "Anyone?! Pidge! Hunk!?" He yelled again until he heard growling. He immediately looked up and saw one of them trying to find out where he was. Keith was able to stay quiet long enough for the creature to move on. Keith's look immediately changed from fear to anger as he slowly went after it.

Seeing that the coast was clear, Shiro started to look around the chamber for anything of use. Using the camcorder, he managed to find a canteen. He went to see if anything was in it. Luckily it has a small amount of whiskey in it. He put it the side for now and looked around for something to use as a torch. He noticed the pickax on Lances leg was still there. Taking a breath, he pulled the small knife he had to cut it out. He noticed that he would some cloth to make the torch but the only cloth that was there was on Lance's corpse. Seeing no other choice, Shiro started to tear some of the clothes off of Lance. "I'm so sorry." He apologized softly as he finished getting what he needed. Wrapping the clothes around the ax, he doused it with the whiskey. Looking for something to give him a spark, he noticed he some carabiners on his belt. Pulling one of them off, He set the ax against a nearby rock and started to strike the carabiner against it. After a few tries, he managed to get a spark and the torch flame lit up. The light allowed him to see Lance, who was completely hollowed out. Fighting back the urge to gag, he turned away and started moving towards another entrance.

Hunk and Pidge decided to move on. Hunk pulled out a pickax from the bag he had and they both started down another tunnel. After walking a few feet, they come across a corner. Hunk motioned Pidge to stay back, so he can check if the way was clear. "Ok. Ok." He whispered to himself as he turned to corner ready to defend himself, but there was nothing there. Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to Pidge. "It's clear. Come on." He told her. She turned her headlamp back on and started down the tunnel cautiously. Hunk went to follow but heard something from behind him. He turned to see what was there but couldn't see anything. Believing he is hearing things, he continued to follow his girlfriend down the tunnel.

Suddenly, a loud shriek from above scared him as a creature dropped down from the roof in front of him. "PIDGE! RUN!" He yelled at her, who gladly listened to his advice. The creature started attacking Hunk. Hunk swung his ax at the creature, trying to keep it away. The creature didn't let up as it kept clawing at him until it backed him into a corner. Hunk was trying his best to hold it back as it gradually closed in onto his neck. Suddenly, a pickax was flung through the air and it lodged itself into the creatures back. It shrieked in pain as Keith emerged from the tunnel with Pidge right behind him. He walked up to the creature, grabbed its head and snapped its neck in one motion. He went to unlodge his pickax and raised it in Hunks direction, but relaxed as soon as he saw him.

Hunk went up and hugged him. "We heard you calling for Shiro." He whispered to him, relieved that he was alive. Keith closed in relief, knowing Hunk and Pidge were alright. "Where are the others?" Hunk asked him after letting go. Pidge looked at him concerned. "They took Lance. Curt…. Curt's dead." He sadly informed them. Frustrated, Pidge kicked the creature's corpse. Keith looked down and sobbed a little, thinking about what had happened to them. Hunk had a look of disbelief on his face at the news. Keith managed to calm down enough to ask Pidge "What is that thing?" Pidge grabbed her flashlight and knelt to examine it. "I don't know, but it does look human." She started to explain. "Come on. We need to find a way out before those fucking things find us." Hunk urgently whispered to them. Keith shook his head "No. Pidge, tell us what we're fighting here." He requested. She looked down at the corpse before speaking "Well, they're completely blind and judging from what we've seen, I'd say they use sound to hunt with, like bats. They've also evolved perfectly to live in the dark and to climb all of these rocks." She deduced to them. "Whatever they are, they go to the surface to hunt and they bring their food back down here to eat through an entrance. Listen, if we can stay quiet enough and evade these fuckers, I think I found a way out." Keith told them. "You think?" Hunk asked him. "The climbing gear we found. Whoever brought that here marked their route. I found those markings." Keith informed them. "What are we waiting for?" Pidge asked him. As they got up, Keith told them why. "Shiro. I'm not leaving without Shiro." He told them while sheathing his pickax.


	9. Truths Revealed

Still navigating his way through the chamber, Shiro came upon more corpses of the creature's victims. "God. This is unreal." He whispered as he continued along with torch in hand. "Shiro?" a voice hoarsely called out as a hand shot up next to Shiro. Recognizing the voice, Shiro immediately ran over to the hand and pulled the deer corpse off of him. "Curtis. Oh my god, no." He whispered in fear as he kneeled over his boyfriend. "Shiro, run!" Curtis told him while coughing up blood and his neck wound bleeding steadily. Shaking his head, Shiro grabbed Curtis's arm "I'm getting you out of here." He told him as he tried to get him on his feet, but Curtis just groaned in pain. "Don't touch me." He begged him as Shiro laid him back down. "I heard Keith calling. I'm going to go find him, we're going to come back and we'll get you out of here, ok?" He asked him. Curtis desperately shook his head before warning him "Stay away from him." Shiro was confused by this. "Why?" He asked him. "He did this to me. He left me alone." Curtis told him.

Shiro didn't want to believe it, but when looked at the wound, he saw it was made from a pickax. "Shiro, don't trust him. Find your own way out." Curtis told him while coughing up more blood. "It's ok. I'm not leaving you here, Curtis." He told him while trying to lift him again, only to grab the knife that Curtis grabbed off of Keith when he injured him. Shiro examined it and noticed whose it was. "This is Keith's." He whispered before looking at Curtis. "It's from Adam." He dejectedly told him. Shiro took a shuddering breath before he unsheathed the knife to see the words he never wanted to see etched into the blade 'Enjoy each day' confirming what Curtis had revealed. Shiro cried silently before going back to Curtis. They heard shrieking coming from somewhere in the caves. "That's them. Curt, come on." Shiro desperately asked while trying to get him off the ground. Curtis grabbed Shiro and pulled him close to him. "Don't leave me like this." He told him. Knowing what was asked of him, Shiro immediately denied his request. "No, I can't do that." He told him. Curtis didn't break eye contact when he whispered "Please." He asked him. Knowing he didn't have any other choice, Shiro told him to close his eyes. Curtis nodded and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Shiro kissed him on the forehead before grabbing a nearby rock. He raised it above his head and brought it straight on Curtis's head with all his might, killing him.

Shiro immediately scrambled away from the body and started taking several breaths to calm himself down. Suddenly, a small creature jumped on his back and started trying to bite him. Shiro struggled a bit but managed to give it a reverse headbutt to knock it off of him. He looked at the creature, which now had a broken nose, and stomped it to death. While grabbing the torch, he heard chittering from behind him. He turned around to see another creature, a female this time, whimpering as it sniffed around looking for something. When it sniffed the body of the little creature, it raised its head and shrieked right at Shiro. Instinct took over Shiro as he ran from it. Not being able to see far ahead, Shiro didn't notice a small pool in front of him, tossing his torch forward on a ledge and he fell right in. When he surfaced, he saw that he fell into a pool of blood and he was completely covered in it. He looked back to see if the creature was behind him and when he didn't see it, he started making his way out of the pool. When he got to the ledge, the creature suddenly appeared in the pool behind him and attacked him. Shiro tried to dunk it back into the pool to loosen its grip. When they emerged on top, Shiro managed to elbow it in the face, knocking it off him and losing his jacket in the process. He started climbing the ledge again when the creature flipped him on his back. Shiro held it back with his left arm while he tried to reach a small deer antler that was right above him with the other arm. After an agonizing few seconds, he managed to get the antler and jam it right into the creatures' eye, killing it instantly.

After letting the corpse sink back into the pond, Shiro ditched the antler and continued to climb out. When he managed to get onto the ledge, he heard chittering from another creature coming right at him. Keeping silent, he laid himself down silently and waited. The creature crawled out of a nearby tunnel and placed its hand right on top of Shiro's head, not knowing he was alive. Shiro stayed completely still until the creature moved forward and away from him. Saying silent, He silently reached over to grab a nearby leg bone. With a look of pure hatred in his eyes, He slowly rose up and looked at the creature, illuminated by the torch. The creature shrieked and turned to face him. Shiro swung the leg bone with all of his might and smacked the creature across its face, knocking it to the ground. He then raised the bone again and brought it down on the creatures' head with all his might, smashing half of its face. He dropped the bone and went back to grab the torch. Shiro had a blank emotion on his face as he processed everything that just happened. When he finally snapped out of it, He raised his head and just screamed in anger and pain, which reverberated in the caves.

Meanwhile, Keith, Hunk and Pidge were following the markings that Keith found to get out of the cave when they heard more shrieking coming from behind them. "Hurry. Move it." Keith urgently whispered to them. Hunk and Pidge continued to follow the path with Keith behind them. "Shiro? Shiro. Shiro!" Keith loudly whispered but was never answered. Hunk turned to look at him while Pidge crawled through a tunnel. "Look, He's dead, Keith! We can't wait for him!" He angrily whispered to Keith, who just shook in denial. Pidge got through the tunnel and turned back to them. "Come on!" She shouted as she rushed through the tunnel, not caring about being quiet. "Babe, Come back!" Hunk called out as he crawled through the same tunnel. Keith was about to crawl through until he heard something coming from behind him. Slowly, He moved forward with his flashlight. "Shiro?" He whispered as he raised his flashlight to see what it was. Only instead of Shiro, it was more creatures and too many to fight off. Forgetting he had to be quiet, Keith yelled "RUN!" and hastily crawled through the tunnel. The creatures shrieked in response to his yell and immediately started chasing them.

Pidge heard Keith and was completely terrified as she continued down the tunnel until she came upon a ledge. She kicked a rock off to see how much of a drop it was, only to be answered by the sound of water after 10 seconds. Deciding against jumping off, she opted to climb across the crater. She went to grab her gloves, only to find that she didn't have them. "Oh Fuck!" She exclaimed as she went to the edge. She put her hands into the ceiling crack and clenched her fists so she wouldn't fall. She slowly moved forward until she got to a safe spot and grabbed a cam from her belt. Meanwhile, Keith and Hunk were running down the tunnel in a panic from the creatures behind them until they came unto a dead end. "Shit!" Hunk exclaimed. Keith saw another tunnel and motioned to Hunk. "Come on!" He told him as he started down the tunnel. "Just stop her! I'll be right behind you!" Hunk answered back. Since he was carrying the gear bag, it would be a while before he could catch up with them. Pidge managed to secure her cam and was hanging from the ceiling, catching her breath. She noticed her hands were wet and went to look at them, only to see it wasn't water or sweat. Her hands were ripped and bleeding from traversing the crack without her gloves. Taking a breath, she continued to crawl across the crater.

Keith finally made his way to the crater when he saw her on the ceiling. "Pidge, what are you doing? Come back!" he called to her but was ignored. Keith turned his head back to the tunnel "Hunk! Hurry!" He called to him, then he turned back to Pidge. "You don't have enough rope! Pidge, turn around!" he continued to call out but was once again ignored. Hunk finally caught up with them and saw Pidge. "Babe! Babe, turn around. You can come back." He tried to tell her, but she was too scared to come back. "Please, babe, listen to me! Please!" Hunk pleaded with her. Pidge was thinking about what to do next when she heard something from behind her. She turned around, only to be greeted with the face of a creature that was hanging on the cave ceiling. Keith and Hunk went silent at the sight before them. Seeing no way out, Pidge grabbed a small knife she had and shouted, alerting the creatures to her location. "What are you doing?!" Keith yelled as the creature crawled straight at her. Holding the knife in her mouth, Pidge was kicking at the creature while using her hands to stay balanced. Hunk and Keith could only look on as the creature reached out and grabbed her throat. It ripped into her neck and sliced her neck open. "Pidge!" Keith called out. Using her last bit of strength, she climbed onto the creatures back, grabbed her knife from her mouth and stabbed it in the back, causing it to fall into a crevice. After the deed was finished, she went limp and died in her harness. Her headlamp shining on the others.

"NOOOO!" Hunk shouted in horror as he saw his girlfriend hanging lifelessly in front of him. He was sobbing while Keith just looked in sorrow. Suddenly, Hunk was being dragged back into the tunnel by another creature. No! Hunk!" Keith shouted as he tries to grab Hunks hands to pull him back. Hunk grabbed the rocky floor to hold on, but the creature pulled him so hard, that his fingernails were ripped out from hanging on. The creature flipped Hunk over on his back and started to eat his stomach. Screaming in pain, Hunk reached up to Keith for help. However, Keith knew that Hunk couldn't be saved, so he grabbed the gear bag and jumped off the ledge into the pool of below. While underwater, Keith noticed the creature Pidge stabbed in front of him. He mentally took a sigh of relief thinking it was dead, only to be answered by it shrieking and attacking him. Keith tried to fight him off while trying to hold his breath when he noticed the knife Pidge used in its lower back. He grabbed it and stabbed right into the head, killing it instantly.

He swam up to the surface and took a deep breath as soon as he broke through the surface. He looked around the chasm to make sure there weren't any more creatures. Seeing no other creatures, He grabbed the gear bag, unsheathed his pickax and started climbing up the wall of the chasm. Climbing up a wall with water constantly coming down in wet clothing was difficult, but he knew he couldn't stop. As he reached out to grab onto to a small ledge, a pair of hands shot out from a hole in front of him and pulled him in. As soon as Keith was inside, the figure poked its head outside the hole to make sure there weren't any creatures. Seeing no creatures, the figure returned to the hole to face Keith. Keith was surprised to see that it wasn't a creature that grabbed him. It was Shiro, who was covered in blood and had a look of pure anger on his face. "What happened to you?" Keith asked him. Shiro just stared at him before asking "Hunk?" Keith just shook his head no. "What about Curtis?" He asked. Keith took a shuddering gasp before replying "He didn't make it." Shiro looked away in anger before asking "You saw him die?" before turning back to look at him. Keith was silent for a moment before he nodded his head yes. Shiro quietly seethed at the lie he just heard but managed to control it. "Come on." He told Keith as he started to make his way through the nearby tunnel. Keith gave a small smile and followed him.


	10. Freedom

Together, they traversed the cave following the trail marks Keith found. Keith lit flares to illuminate the cave. Shiro took point with his torch and pickax. They came into a large chamber and looked around to find another marking. When Shiro turned to move forward, he stopped and raised his ax. Keith lit a flare and looked to where Shiro was glaring at. There was a small group of creatures just sitting there, waiting for there meal.

The two survivors took their fighting stances and just waited for the creatures to move first. After a while, some creatures started to slowly crawl to them hearing the faint breathing coming from the survivors. "Come on. Come on." Keith whispered to them. Soon, there was a screech and a creature jumped at Keith, knocking him down. He managed to get it away from it, sat against a rock and kicked it in the head. Shiro waved his torch at the other creatures until one of them grabbed it and yanked it from him. When he went to swing his ax at it, another one grabbed his legs and dragged him towards it. Shiro swung his ax into its side and flipped it over on its back. Keith was still wrestling another one until he managed to get it on its back and kneed it repeatedly in the groin until it was dead.

Shiro was holding down the creature until he went down to bite into its neck and rip out a huge chunk of flesh. The creature was screeching in pain and Shiro decided to end its suffering. He placed his thumbs over its eyes and proceeded to violently gouge its eyes out. Keith had 2 creatures attacking him. He managed to bash one against the stone wall repeatedly until it blood was spattered on the wall. The last creature, the one who Keith fought over Lance, attacked him. Keith managed to evade it and punched it in the gut. He reached up and grabbed the flare he lit and turned to the creature. It screeched at him, but Keith just shoved the flare down its throat. Seeing that it was still alive, Keith grabbed his pickax and slammed it right down onto the creatures' head, causing a spout of blood to shoot out.

Shiro was still gouging the creature's eyes when he saw that it was dead. He removed his thumbs and spat out the flesh in his mouth. He was wiping the blood off his hands when he saw Keith's knife on the ground. He slowly reached out, grabbed it and stood up. Keith stood up and turned to face Shiro, who just stared at him emotionless. Keith smiled at the fact they won, but Shiro just glared at him. Slowly, Shiro lifted the knife he had to show Keith, who was shocked to see it. Shiro then proceeded to unsheathe it to show the etching to Keith, who couldn't say anything.

Shiro was silent as he continued to glare at Keith. Soon, there was shrieking coming from the tunnel and towards them. Keith looked towards the sounds while Shiro just briefly looked before turning his eyes back to Keith. Suddenly, He sheathed to knife, reached down to his pickax on the ground and swung it directly into Keith's leg. "AAAGGHH!" Keith shouted in pain as Shiro just looked at him in anger. Soon the shrieking was growing louder and Shiro turned and ran out of the chamber. Keith was seething in pain and anger as he saw his best friend grab the torch and leave him behind. Bracing himself for pain, He reached down and yanked the ax out of his leg. "Ugh!" He yelled as he hobbled around to fight. He was surprised at what he saw: Dozens of creatures all over the chamber. Since he can't move, Keith braced himself. "AAAARRRRGGHHH! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Shiro heard from Keith down the tunnel, but he just continued down the tunnel.

Being in a rush, Shiro didn't see the hole in front of him and fell, getting knocked out in the process. After a few minutes, something was shining on his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw there was daylight streaming down a hill of bones in front of him. Feeling a surge of adrenaline, he started to make his way up the hill and towards freedom. After climbing for about 5 minutes, he managed to get up the entrance and reached his hands through. He pulled himself up to the outside and took a huge gasp of air. He continued to haul himself out of the cave and slid down the side of the mountain. He was screaming in fear as he made his way back to where the cars were parked. "Oh god." He gasped as he made it to the car. He got inside the one he drove and started it up. As soon as it started, he immediately drove away from the mountain, from the creatures and his friends. He floored the gas and made it back to the highway in less than an hour.

Soon as he got far enough, he pulled over and just broke down in sobs thinking about everything that happened. While sobbing, he didn't notice a haul truck coming up behind him. The driver blared the horn as drove past Shiro. Surprised by that, Shiro was suddenly feeling sick. He rolled the window down and threw up what little contents he had. When he pulled his head back in the car, He turned to Keith all bloody looking at him. He just screamed in terror.


End file.
